A day of giving, then so much taken away

LOWELL -- For Stephanie Southworth, who spent much of the past year in and out of medical facilities feeling sick and trying to find out the cause, the Christmas season was supposed to bring an upbeat close to a trying year.

And on Christmas Day, her hopes seemed on the verge of becoming a reality.

Southworth, 28, was finally feeling better and she had the chance to enjoy the holiday with her husband, Jeff, and 2-year-old daughter Peighton, who is now old enough to understand the festivities.

The Southworths recorded Peighton's every move Christmas morning, including her eagerly exiting her room, finding a note from Santa that he ate the cookies left out, and opening a bounty of gifts. Among them were a new bike with training wheels, a Disneyland Castle set with accompanying characters and a tea set that any young girl would enjoy.

"We had a great day and Peighton loved her gifts," said Stephanie, who works in Lowell's Human Relations department as benefits coordinator.

But the peace and joy Stephanie and Jeff felt for the first time in a while was shattered a day later.

When Jeff returned home after work, he discovered their Belvidere home, which is not too far from City Hall, had been broken into and significant items, including some Christmas gifts, were stolen.

Gone was Stephanie's Hewlett-Packard laptop that had thousands of photos of Peighton's first two years of life, and wedding photos that were not saved anywhere else.

Advertisement

Taken were much of Stephanie's jewelry and the Christmas money Jeff had received. The console and controllers for a Nintendo Wii Jeff was given for Christmas were nabbed, as was his winter coat.

And to add insult to injury, the camera that recorded the prior day's festivities and the memory-storage device were stolen.

Stephanie says when she found out the bad news, she was hysterical and cried for the next several days.

"It was a senseless and heartless act for a person to invade someone's space and privacy and not even care," Stephanie said. "It is just the worst feeling in the world thinking about what happened and what we lost. I still cry when I think about it."

The pain the family felt was amplified because of the challenging year that preceded the break-in.

"This year was just one bad thing after another and the break-in was the icing on the cake of this being a bad year," said Jeff, 32, a phlebotomist.

Stephanie said she is most upset about the theft of her laptop, which had photos she had not saved anywhere else.

She is hoping that if anything is returned it would be her computer, or that the thief would at least provide the drive where the photos were stored. The two photos from the Southworths' wedding hanging on their living-room wall are the only two she printed out from the day.

"I have a few years of memories on the computer I would love to get back, and that cannot be replaced," Stephanie said. "Even if the photos are just sent along to police, I would be happy."

Following the break-in, family members came to support Jeff and Stephanie, and they were just as outraged about what occurred.

Sara Jordan of Pelham, Stephanie's mother, wrote a letter to the editor that was published in The Sun highlighting how Stephanie no longer feels safe in her home.

"Anyone that knows this family is just as repulsed by the fact that this American family was the victim of such a senseless act," Jordan wrote.

Lowell police are investigating the break-in, which was very similar to another nearby to the Southworths' home in terms of how it was committed and that it happened the same day, said Capt. Kelly Richardson.

Richardson said those who have information can contact police at their anonymous Crimestoppers hotline at 978-459-TIPS (8477), or contact police via text message by texting to 847411, with "LPDtip" as the subject of the text.

"People need to put themselves in the shoes of the victim, and if they have any information on these crimes they should contact us," Richardson said.

As for the Southworths, who said police have been very helpful, they are hoping for a 2013 that is happier and healthier.

But Stephanie says she does not know how much longer she can live in her current home after what happened on Dec. 26.

"It is hard to recover from the knowledge that there was a stranger in here rifling through my stuff," she said. "I'm paranoid all the time now that I'm being watched and something else could happen."

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.